1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to reworking inconsistencies in aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for holding a composite panel for reworking a composite fuselage of an aircraft.
2. Background
Aircraft are being designed and manufactured with greater and greater percentages of composite materials. Composite materials are used in aircraft to decrease the weight of the aircraft. This decreased weight improves performance features such as payload capacities and fuel efficiencies. Further, composite materials provide longer service life for various components in an aircraft.
Composite materials are tough, light-weight materials created by combining two or more functional components. For example, a composite material may include reinforcing fibers bound in polymer resin matrix. The fibers may be unidirectional or may take the form of a woven cloth or fabric. The fibers and resins are arranged and cured to form a composite material.
Further, using composite materials to create aerospace composite structures potentially allows for portions of an aircraft to be manufactured in larger pieces or sections. For example, a fuselage in an aircraft may be created in cylindrical sections and then assembled to form the fuselage of the aircraft. Other examples include, without limitation, wing sections joined to form a wing or stabilizer sections joined to form a stabilizer.
An inconsistency may occur on a composite structure of the aircraft during manufacturing or operation of the aircraft. For example, an inconstancy may occur in a fuselage of the aircraft. The inconsistency may be reworked. The type of rework may depend on the size of the inconsistency. For example, a portion of the fuselage, including the inconsistency, is removed leaving a rework opening. A composite panel is trimmed to fit in the rework opening as a replacement for the portion removed. After the composite panel is trimmed to desired dimensions, the composite panel is positioned in the rework opening and attached to the aircraft. The composite panel may also be referred to as a plug or patch.
The tolerances of fit of the composite panel require a very precise trimming to fit within the rework opening. The fit also involves maintaining a contour of the fuselage so that the composite panel is flush with the rest of the fuselage. Also, in some cases, the composite panel may have stringers on the inner side. In this case, the fit also involves aligning those stringers with the existing stringers in the fuselage around the rework opening.
This process becomes increasingly challenging as the size of the composite panel increases. For example, cutting, positioning, and attaching the composite panel becomes more difficult and time consuming with the increase in size. For example, composite panel sizes from 2′×2′ to 4′×8′ are considered a medium area repair (MAR) and have a size that is challenging for human operators performing rework on the fuselage. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.